Dutch police will not enforce a ban on the sale of marijuana to the two
million foreign tourists who buy and smoke cannabis in Amsterdam's "coffee
shops" every year.

After a national ban on the purchase of marijuana by foreigners in other Dutch cities, such as Maastricht and Rotterdam, Holland's capital has been under pressure to introduce similar restrictions.

Eberhard van der Laan, Amsterdam's mayor, has refused to enforce the ban in a city where up to a third of its annual seven million tourists take advantage of the country's famous cannabis cafes.

"It has been decided that Amsterdam law enforcement authorities will not attach any priority to enforcing the local residence requirement," he wrote in a letter to the government.

The national ban was introduced because Dutch cities on the border with Belgium and Germany had complained that drug tourism attracted crime and unwelcome visitors.

The legislation was opposed by Amsterdam because the city has 220 "coffee shops", or cafes, licensed to sell cannabis, sales that represent a major source of revenue for the local authorities and a big attraction for millions of tourists.